HONG KONG (SE): “I did not expect that Mass hymns, after being rearranged, would have such a new impact,” said Francis Ho, a participant in the Koinonia Mass at St. Joseph’s Church, Fanling, on March 10. He waved his phone, with its torch lit, together with the congregation and sang the closing song with them.
Father Wongarsa Phongphan of the Pontifical Institute of Foreign Missions [PIME], the assistant parish priest, celebrated the Mass for young people, organised by Koinonia Music and FreeUp Music Ministry, in collaboration with St. Joseph’s Church youth group.
Koinonia Music was formed in 2008 by the late PIME Father Giovanni Giampietro with a group of young Catholics dedicated to music. Their mission was to encourage young people through lively music in Masses with different instruments, known as Koinonia Masses, as well as other sharing sessions. Its members are mostly from the FreeUp Music Ministry, a cross-parish Catholic youth music evangelisation group.
Koinonia Mass features hymns composed or rearranged by a number of Catholic music groups and bands. A live band accompanies the hymns, creating a unique experience for the congregation.
Karen Leung, a vocalist in the choir, said she longed to join a community in the Catholic Church. She is happy to be a member of the FreeUp Music Ministry now, which gives her spiritual support and a chance to use her talents in singing.
During the Mass, Father Phongphan said he felt touched and amazed to celebrate with such beautiful hymns for young people for the first time. God’s love always surrounds us, he said, and we are only the ones who reject it. He urged those present to walk in the light of his truth and open their hearts during Lent.
As he explained to the music group, being together is not easy, and togetherness means they have experiences in common. He remembered that one of Father Giampietro’s last words to him was to support the musical youth group and that a missionary has to love the people around him.
You spread the love of God through music. There is no need to do too much; do the best you can. Small things can move mountains because behind you is a powerful God
Father Phongphan
“You spread the love of God through music. There is no need to do too much; do the best you can. Small things can move mountains because behind you is a powerful God,” he said.
Father Giampietro, who passed away last June, was remembered at the last Koinonia Mass celebrated at Wah Yan College Hong Kong, Wan Chai, in September 2023.
Ricky Lam, chairperson of Koinonia Music and FreeUp Music, said the group plans to promote Koinonia Mass by organising it in different areas in Hong Kong every quarter this year. The next one will be in June in Kowloon.
Lam said many young people have musical talent and are inspired to use it to evangelise. The group also has a number of non-believers who believe in the core values of the Catholic faith and would like to express themselves through music.
Sarah Mui, a member of the Fanling youth group, said she helped to organise the Mass because she discovered the power of Koinonia Mass after joining it last September.
Koinonia Music and FreeUp Music have cooperated with the diocese on many different occasions and contributed to the compilation of a youth Mass songbook with the Diocesan Youth Commission in 2018.
